U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian trade products is moving ahead as scheduled on March 4, but a White House official says that could change “pending ongoing negotiations.”
“But as of now, we don’t have any developments or progress to share, so they are still moving ahead as the president indicated,” a White House official told CTV News in an email Wednesday.
Canada secured a 30-day pause on those likely economically devastating tariffs earlier this month, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — over two phone calls directly with the U.S. president — pitched Canada’s plan to address border security and combat the fentanyl crisis.
Trump has said other levies are also on the way, such as new tariffs on steel and aluminum as of March 12, and “the big one,” reciprocal tariffs, in early April.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Trump appeared to mix up his proposed tariffs and respective timelines, indicating the punishing 25 per cent tariffs would be imposed on Canada and Mexico on April 2.
Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, however, appeared to suggest the original March 4 date still holds, characterizing them as “fentanyl-related” tariffs.
“At the end of the 30 days they have to prove to the president that they’ve satisfied him to that regard,” Lutnick said. “If they have, then he’ll give them a pause. Or, he won’t.”
“It’s going to be hard to satisfy,” Trump interjected, before speaking to fentanyl-related deaths in the U.S. and adding: “A lot of it comes through Canada.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data says U.S. border agents seized approximately 49 pounds of fentanyl at the Canada-U.S. border over the past 12 months.
Comparatively, the U.S. seized about 19.5 thousand pounds of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Again, speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump misstated the size of the U.S. trade deficit with Canada — which he’s repeatedly called “a subsidy” — before again stating that “Canada should become the 51st state.”
CTV News has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office requesting an update on negotiations but has not yet received a response.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Wednesday that the federal government is following developments in the U.S. “very carefully.”
“One thing that we’ve learned is to take it step by step, to listen to what the President says very carefully, but at the same time, the only way you can operate like that is to make sure that you act on the basis of signed executive orders,” Champagne told reporters.
Trump has twice now claimed that significant 25 per cent tariffs would be imposed on Canadian imports to the U.S., first on Jan. 20, then again on Feb. 1. In both instances, he ultimately delayed their imposition.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told CTV News earlier this week that the sole decision-maker on tariffs is Trump himself, but she insisted the Canadian government stands ready to retaliate with its $155-billion tariff plan, should Trump proceed on March 4.
Former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said if Trump makes good on his threat and applies sweeping tariffs, it will amount to a permanent five per cent “pay cut” for Canada’s economy as a whole.
The White House official also wrote in the email to CTV News that that Trump’s plan to impose reciprocal tariffs — the taxing of imports from a country which taxes American imports of the same or similar product — are “still moving forward” in April.
